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Organization efforts in groups generate interaction and procedural structures, or “rules of behavior”. The type and extent of structuring are affected by preexisting preferences among group members for a desired degree of procedural order, as well as by the communication media available in the meeting environment. Analysis of thirty partially‐distributed groups that met over a series of four sessions was conducted by using two methods. Questionnaires were administered to ascertain perceptions of satisfaction and procedural practices. Content analysis was used to determine actual procedural behavioral patterns. It appears that preferences for procedural order does affect structuring behaviors, but do not affect their satisfaction with the group process. Interestingly, and counter to the expectations elicited from a history of media richness theory and studies, results here indicate that interaction media (video conferencing vs. audio conferencing) have no affect on either members’ perceptions of procedural structuring, their satisfaction, or their actual procedural structuring practices. Implications of these results are discussed.

The importance of developing and implementing sustainable business practices has never been greater. Business schools are increasingly tasked with preparing students to contribute to this imperative and although progress is being made, the impact of integrating sustainability into business school curriculum has remained uncertain as studies exploring the impact have been lacking. The purpose of this multi-case study was to examine the impact of integration efforts in two distinct undergraduate business programs at Royal Roads University. The research focused on how students' understanding of sustainability and their associated attitudes and behaviors changed as they progressed throughout their programs. In addition to considering the impact of a sustainability-infused curriculum, other factors affecting sustainability orientations were also explored. The study was unique in both its comparative nature and in its investigation of the various contextual factors shaping sustainability orientations. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and through document analysis. Findings suggest a combination of approaches to integration is most effective in impacting sustainability perspectives. While sustainability was generally understood in a multidimensional manner, there was a noticeable environmental bias and a tendency to view it within the business framework. A need for stronger and more comprehensive conceptualizations was identified. Recommendations include: (a) embed sustainability in a comprehensive manner across the curriculum, (b) move beyond a disciplinary conceptualization of sustainability and introduce stronger sustainability discourse, (c) utilize powerful experiential and place-based pedagogies, (d) pay attention to context and ensure both the formal and the informal curriculum mutually reinforce a pro-sustainability agenda.

Group members’ attitudes toward social processes and media properties are likely to change as members interact and gain experience with each other and technology in computer‐supported environments. Moreover, these attitudes are likely to evolve differently. This study examines computer‐supported groups of four over a series of four sessions working on a collaborative writing task. Results from this study indicate that group‐related attitudes, i.e. social perceptions, tend to change sooner, and to a greater extent, than media‐related ones. A possible explanation for these differences is that computer media have certain physical properties that cannot be easily altered by users. In contrast, group‐related structures appear to be much more malleable. These results imply that, for example, groups can, with the right assistance, develop positive group attitudes rather quickly which tend to last over time. In contrast, attitudes towards technical systems tend to evolve more slowly and, when system designs are flawed or users are not well trained on system features, managers may be faced with persistent negative user attitudes. Thus, understanding how social and technical attitudes evolve is critical for managers who want to improve group processes.

Media richness theory argues that different media are more or less appropriate for different tasks. Social information processing theory (SIP) explains a motivation and method guiding such technology adoption. In light of these theories, and the field’s lack of understanding of media effects on group development, this article investigates the development of two important group process factors – cohesion development and process satisfaction – in two different studies of groups supported by electronic meeting systems. Results indicate that initial levels of cohesion and process satisfaction differ depending on the medium (and its inherent richness) and, consistent with SIP, cohesion and process satisfaction increase over time in all types of electronic support, despite relative differences in media richness.

The guest‐editors of the first Special Issue on E‐Collaboration provide an introduction to the issue. E‐collaboration is broadly defined as collaboration among individuals engaged in a common task using electronic technologies. A brief history of the evolution of e‐collaboration technologies is offered along with a discussion of research in the area. The paper concludes with a brief review of the contributions to the Special Issue and a look at one important future challenge for e‐collaboration researchers, the challenge of theoretical summarization.

The purpose of this paper was to empirically integrate the structural and perceptual control programs in the identity theory. This integration involved examining how the structural concepts of prominence and salience moderate the impact that the perceptual control process of nonverification has role-specific self-esteem.

We use survey data from normative and counter-normative conditions in the parent and spouse identities to test a series of structural equation models. In each model, we test the direct impacts of prominence, salience, and nonverification on worth, efficacy, and authenticity. We also test interaction effects between prominence and nonverification as well as salience and nonverification on the three self-esteem outcomes.

Out of the 24 possible interaction effects, only three were significant. By contrast, the expected positive effects of prominence on worth were supported among all identities, while the expected positive effects of salience on self-esteem were supported only among normative identities. Also as expected, the negative effects of nonverification on self-esteem were supported, though most strongly among counter-normative identities.

Our findings indicate that the structural and perceptual control concepts have independent effects on self-esteem. Thus, future research should incorporate both programs when examining identity processes on self-esteem. However, depending on the normativity or counter-normativity of the identities of interest, research may find it useful to focus on concepts from one program over the other.

This paper is a test of integration of the two research paradigms in the identity theory, which addresses the micro–macro problem in a unique way.

Niskanen (1971) established an influential and enduring model of bureaucrats as budget maximizers. Since this theory’s inception, most empirical tests have demonstrated the limited validity of Niskanen’s vision. Using state agency heads as an analytical unit, this paper further develops ways that the rational choice assumptions inadequately characterize bureaucratic budget aspirations: First, instead of being self-interested, many bureaucrats focus on the interests of collectives across governmental and societal actors, and second, an enhanced focus on transparency in presentation of budgetary and programmatic information reduces the information asymmetry that is central to Niskanen’s theory. The findings show that intentions based in a broad public interest and motivations of accountability and transparency tend to reduce, rather than enhance, growth aspirations in state-level bureaucrats.

The purpose of this chapter is to contextualize mixed findings in the self-complexity literature. Self-complexity (when individuals' identity meanings do not overlap) theoretically buffers negative outcomes associated with distressing experiences, like identity non-verification (perceptions that others see individuals differently than individuals see themselves). However, research on self-complexity overlooks the social context in which these processes occur. Here, the author argues that multiplexity (when individuals are connected in two or more role relationships) provides meaningful context that influences whether self-complexity functions as a buffer. This leads to two competing arguments: (1) multiplexity enhances the self-complexity buffering effect and (2) multiplexity undermines the self-complexity buffering effect.

Using egocentric network survey data from 314 US adults, the author ran four regression models (two for the friend identity, two for the coworker identity). These models test whether self-complexity moderates the effect of non-verification on distress when individuals do (or do not) have multiplex ties in which they are close friends with their coworkers.

Multiplex ties amplify the buffering effect of self-complexity when non-verification occurs in the coworker identity, but multiplex ties weaken the buffering effect of self-complexity when non-verification occurs in the friend identity.

This work supports the idea that the benefits associated with self-complexity are conditional on social context as well as identity context. Future research should consider these realities when examining how identity and buffering processes relate to wellbeing.

This work integrates social network analysis and identity theory to reconcile mixed findings in the literature on self-complexity.

As state funding for public higher education has declined, there is a rising demand for accountability. Past studies have relied on indicator ratios to look at the relationship between funding and performance measures. This approach has some inherent problems that make it difficult to identify inefficiencies. This chapter will study efficiency in state systems of higher education by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA methodology converts multiple variables into a single comprehensive measure of performance efficiency and has the ability to perform benchmarking for the purpose of establishing performance goals. The advantages of DEA modeling will be shown by comparing results with those from a recent study of higher education finance based on publicly available data. DEA is shown to be feasible and implementable for studying state systems of higher education, and provides useful information in identifying “best practice” state systems and guidance for improvement. The value of DEA modeling to state policy makers and education researchers is discussed.